Within the immense virtual battlefield, players and bots are high-tech grunts, using drop-ships and state-of-the-art weaponry to wipe each other out.But times are tough and the rent is due, and when players need extra dough, there’s always the Black, an illegal open source tournament where the sick and twisted desires of the future are given free rein in the Westhavens, a gothic dungeon fantasy world.And all too soon, the real and virtual worlds collide when PerfectQuestion refuses to become the tool of a mad man intent on hacking the global economy for himself.

    Born in the Amish Zone, he was raised to embrace a plain, peaceful life. After he grows up, Donavan becomes an officer with the Transport Authority, the tyrannical government grinding New Pennsylvania under its iron boot. Eventually, his conscience leads him to side with TRACE, the resistance group fighting Transport for the freedom of the entire planet. Donavan has made some tough choices in his life. What ultimately drove him to sympathize with the very rebels he'd fought to subdue?

    The justice and the sweet mercy hit that follow keep her from falling into her own personal abyss. Her secret nighttime work also keeps her on level for her real job: carrying on her father's mission to bring an end to debt collection as a whole. But when a mysterious debt collector interrupts her in the act and discovers her secret, everything Wraith loves may be destroyed by the one thing she can never fix—the original sin of being a debt collector herself.“Wraith is amazing and just as compelling as Lirium—once again I'm hooked!!”“I loved being back in this world! Wraith has captivated me.”RECOMMENDED: START WITH SEASON ONEOriginally written as a serial, WRAITH is Season Two of the Debt Collector series and contains the complete story of Wraith. Each season is told from the perspective of a different debt collector.

    The only time teenage Rigs feels alive is when she's breaking heads as a member of Poseidon's Angels, feared San Francisco biker gang. Rigs has devoted her life to violence and getting ahead within the world's societal confines--add in the haunting of technological ghosts as digital astral projections capable of all-things including murder.But when Rigs stumbles upon the group of friends who are willing players with their eyes on the ultimate prize, are they willing to kill any named targets by the clandestine corporation known only as The Company. The race is on, and if Rigs is going to survive, she'll have to confront the hand of evil pulling the strings of life and death.Ghosts of San Francisco: Tales of Eclipse Vol.1 is the first in a promised series by McGhee and the recipient of the 2014 Poynter's Silver Medal in Science Fiction. McGhee's characters put you in the nightmare world of ghosts and raises possibilities beyond dark and disturbing.

    If you have purchased these Episodes separately, you do not need to purchase this product.My name is Arturo Basilides. I am an orphan living in the slums of Medio City – the capital of a nation ravaged by a war which was won by extremists. Offered a choice between slavery and disenfranchisement, we exist in an underclass so disconnected we effectively inhabit a different era. Daily life involves scavenging, theft and substance abuse with a bunch of misfits who are somehow still in one piece after years of abandonment. I am a natural born fighter and although I despise warfare, I must witness the downfall of those bastard elites whilst fulfilling my romantic intentions with the forever unattainable girl of my dreams.Skye City is a biopunk adventure set in a world where science is indistinguishable from magic and oppression is near-inescapable. Technology has created a newer, 'superior' form of human and genetically engineered monstrosities are as terrifying as anything encountered in your nightmares. The underclass have been underestimated and as they fight back the boundary between freedom fighter and terrorist becomes increasingly blurred. Meanwhile, the drug-induced haze of a traumatised mind places a question mark over the meaning of reality.'Skye City interweaves heavy social issues and philosophy, milking the sci-fi genre for all its worth. The slum dog's efforts to maintain their humanity in such a heartless age, when everything is going against them is palpable. The 99% versus 1% theme focuses our minds on where society might be heading and forces us to look at things how they are, if we wish them to be truly different.' Dean C. Moore – Author of Renaissance 2.0

    1: Primal Punk (352 Pages, Full Colour)Introduction into the world of Degenesis, it's Cultures, Cults and the history of the worldFeaturing two A3 sized maps: Europe and Africa, and the ProtectorateVol. 2: Katharsys (352 Pages, Full Colour)Fully revised rule system, featuring new game concepts, improved Character Creation, flexible Ranking-System, PotentialsFully revised combat systems: “Primal” & “Focus”. New mechanics for enhanced group play optionsBazaar introduces over 130 unique Cult Weapons and Equipments, Scrapper “Slotting & Salvaging" systems, "Weapon Slots & Mods" and much moreFully revised system for using Burn and other enhancements8 Major Enemy Factions, 21 featured Clans, dozens of minor EnemiesStorytelling Chapter featuring tooltips and help for crafting unique campaigns in the world of DegenesisEmbargo establishes a unique adventure set to introduce new players to the Rebirth Edition

    Opportunities are few and dwindling. Society has changed, and not for the better. Every day robots and machines replace humans in the workforce, not just in the most menial jobs, but also throughout the cubicles of the corporations that dominate the cities. Peter Harkness is one of the few humans lucky enough to still have a job, and works next to automatons all day long. How long will his job last? What secrets do the roofs of the city have waiting for him? Peter is left wondering who his allies truly are in this near-futuristic dystopian world, reminiscent of Asimov, Heinlein and the golden age of science fiction.

    An augmented company enforcer, he’s known for taking the straightest path to the objective. Sometimes that’s climbing over bodies, and sometimes it’s blowing up the evidence. Just another day in the syndicates.He’s good at what he does. It’s given Mason the best looks money can buy, the spacious apartment that only comes with knowing the right people, and top shelf bionics from Apsel Federate. He’s at the top of his game when a gate between worlds opens, spilling a man who can control minds into Seattle. This master of coercion rips away everything Mason holds dear. A world bought by corporate interest turns against him.Hunted and fresh out of friends, Mason learns that living in the soft line between incentive and crime was always the easy path. Making the right choices could save the world – and his soul. It’ll only cost him everything he’s ever wanted. Can Mason learn what it means to be truly human?Upgrade is a standalone cyberpunk book by Richard Parry. If you like page-turning techno thrillers with great dialogue and heart-pumping action, then you’ll love this novel from a Sir Julius Vogel Award finalist for both Best Novel and Best New Talent.

     A gifted psionic with a troubled past, she possesses a rare combination of abilities that makes her a powerful weapon against paranormal threats. Adrift in a society that fears people like her, she feels alone in a city of millions. In 2418, rampant violence and corporate warfare have left no shortage of angry wraiths. Most are little more than fleeting shadows or eerie whispers in the darkness, but every so often, one gathers enough strength to threaten the living. A series of attacks by androids known as dolls leave the normal police baffled. Unable to explain what made the machines malfunction, they punt the case to Division 0. Kirsten’s investigation into who – or what – is behind the random murders soon makes her a target for corporate assassins. Despite her past, and the cynical city around her, she clings to the belief that no one is beyond redemption. Alas, the killer is desperate to claim as many innocent souls as possible, and one might just be hers.

    Their reputation precedes them and they are no longer able to hustle the crime community for supplies. With survival becoming harder, they’re left with no other choice but to accept a risky job from a dangerous individual.The two will have to negotiate with the Tinker— a woman whose reputation for psychotic behaviour is known across the nuclear-blasted Abandoned Lands; infiltrate a town overrun with killers; and recover a cache of exceptionally rare information.They will have to put their very lives on the line in order to succeed, and with the odds considerably stacked against them, they’ll need more than luck on their side.

    Lady Kahina Loren, born into the Prism system’s powerful ruling family, is desperate to throw off the shackles of her privileged lifestyle and discover herself, but ambition crumbles when she faces death at the hands of the one person she thought she could trust.With the advanced technology of the 3rd millennium, death is not always as final as it seems, but when that technology malfunctions, is death the better option…

    As good or better than the original.” — Michael Bunker, author of Pennsylvania Omnibus and Brother, Frankenstein ____________________________________________ In Michael Bunker’s Pennsylvania, Jedidiah Troyer becomes the hero of TRACE’s fight against the Transport Authority. But even before Jed’s adventure begins, the Second War for Pennsylvanian Independence has raged for a generation. Gettysburg is one tale of that long and bitter struggle. When we join them in their fight, the forces of TRACE are running out of time. Severely outmanned and outgunned, they know that if they can’t find a way to level the playing field with Transport—and soon—defeat is inevitable. Fate presents them a chance to turn the tide of war. A large supply of Transport’s okcillium—the all-important material powering laser weapons and other military technology—sits largely unguarded in a small town between the AZ and the City. That town’s name is Gettysburg. But fortune rarely allows history to be made so easily. Tactics, heroics, and bloody slaughter are once again the order of the day as Bestimmung Company sets out to seize their prize. In this small town with a famous name, the soldiers of B Company are about to discover that history has a way of repeating itself.

    As the System has collapsed under the pressure of war and a sort of "anti-singularity," Cates finds himself in unfamiliar environs - but as always, he's a quick learner. Mysterious inhuman figures. An abandoned prison. And The Howler. Cates has his hands full, as usual ... and is starting to get his mojo back.

    18-year-old Charlie Nobunaga creates the world’s first sentient AI and becomes an overnight sensation. But amid the red carpet galas and TV interviews, Charlie is diagnosed with cancer, and her promising future grinds to a halt.To save her life, an ambitious tech company uploads Charlie’s mind into the body of a cutting-edge robot. The procedure is a success, but with a horrifying catch. They create additional clones for their own ends.Charlie wakes up four times as four distinct entities: a robot named PRIME, a holographic assistant named SHADOW, a mysterious four-armed killer named ECHO, and the original dying human renamed ZERO. Separated and imprisoned, each version of Charlie begins an arduous journey alone. But their paths soon intersect in surprising ways as they retaliate against the people determined to destroy them.ZERO ECHO SHADOW PRIME is the story of one young woman who splits into four…and fights to become whole again.

    Attacks against Martian corporate interests within the colonies of the Solar System begin to escalate, leading to the Martian fleet enacting a systematic purge of resistance groups within the Core Worlds who may harbour members of the group calling themselves the 'Children of Earth'.The crew of the tramp freighter Erstwhile are on the run and soon find themselves drawn into a sequence of events which puts them squarely in the path of a plan to subjugate the people of the Core Worlds, devised and prepared for by the twisted Artificial Intelligence at the heart of the Children of Earth.Now with the very freedom of the Core Worlds at stake, Captain Maddox has to deduce the real reason behind the attacks and the AI's desire to return to Earth before it is too late, for both him and the free citizens of the inner worlds.

    Her brother Burton lives, or tries to, on money from the Veterans Administration, for neurological damage suffered in the Marines’ elite Haptic Recon unit. Flynne earns what she can by assembling product at the local 3D printshop. She made more as a combat scout in an online game, playing for a rich man, but she’s had to let the shooter games go.Wilf Netherton lives in London, seventy-some years later, on the far side of decades of slow-motion apocalypse. Things are pretty good now, for the haves, and there aren’t many have-nots left. Wilf, a high-powered publicist and celebrity-minder, fancies himself a romantic misfit, in a society where reaching into the past is just another hobby. Burton’s been moonlighting online, secretly working security in some game prototype, a virtual world that looks vaguely like London, but a lot weirder. He’s got Flynne taking over shifts, promised her the game’s not a shooter. Still, the crime she witnesses there is plenty bad.Flynne and Wilf are about to meet one another. Her world will be altered utterly, irrevocably, and Wilf’s, for all its decadence and power, will learn that some of these third-world types from the past can be badass.

    Below the zone of Orbital control, buttonheads, panzerjocks, dirtgirls, and hustlers scramble for their ticket out of the gravity well. But now, if the criminal underworld and the guerilla underground can join forces, there is a chance to shift the balance of power— in a war fought on the ground by hardwired commandos, in the air by high-flying deltajocks, and by genius hackers in the neural interface. As Roger Zelazny said, “Hardwired” is a tough, sleek juggernaut of a story, punctuated by strobe light movements, coursing to the wail of jets and the twang of steel guitars— glittering, nasty, and noble— and told in a style perfectly suiting its content. It has all of my favorite things— blood, love, fire, hate and a high ideal or two. I wish I’d written this one.”

    He didn’t want or need to know. But after he’s rebooted this time, there are gaps in his memory he can’t ignore, and people he no longer recognizes are accusing him of betrayal. When someone dies, he’s determined to go looking for answers…but sometimes it really is better to forget.

    

    Transrealism is about transmuting your ordinary life into SF.* The Secret of Life: A 60s college student learns he's a saucer alien.* White Light: A hipster math professor travels to the afterworld.* Saucer Wisdom: A troubled author tries to write about alien abductions.

    The streets of the Sixth World are mean, and if they want to stay alive, shadowrunners need every advantage they can get to gain a step on the opposition. Fortunately, Run Faster is full of them. With it, you can learn about more metatypes for characters, including hobgoblins, giants, centaurs, and sasquatch; acquire new qualities, such as Disgraced, Hawk Eye, and Lightning Reflexes; and, if you dare, dabble with the dangerous and deadly Infected.Run Faster also has advice on fleshing out characters of different metatypes, expanded contact and lifestyle rules, and alternate character creation methods to help ensure that players can build exactly the character they want.All these options make Run Faster a crucial companion to players who want to get the most out of their Shadowrun, Fifth Edition core rulebook.

    His flamboyance is well-practiced. They all know him, he's world-renowned (he reminds them). Then he calls them the faceless masses, says he doesn't care who they are. It's a familiar deadpan, his particular brand of sensationalism through effrontery. Then he gets more personal, but it isn't sincere—how could it be? I'll be your guide, he says, your mentor, your guru, your spiritual advisor, leading you along the "sordid paths of the sublime, the seedy, and the sensational." And it's true, he will be.This is Lawrence Booth, host of a 22nd-century variety show; an ultimate evolution of vaudeville; a tangible expression of social media and a venue for the people's justice. And his favorite toy is a superhero—a popular bounty hunter called Beowulf.When New York's paragons turn to violent crime, it falls to Booth and Beowulf to restore order (and, more importantly, to make a good show of it). Is this an unraveling of the social fabric? Have our leaders turned, as parasites on a host? Or are they victims themselves of a society dependent on the wonders—and the dangers—of high technology?Beowulf: A Bloody Calculus, is a frenetic exploration of logical extremes. It's about superheroes as the products of marketing machines, social media as a fundamental and frightening social adhesive, summary justice as a Utilitarian exigency. It's part mystery, part thriller, all in the plugged-in context of a cyberpunk future.And it's one a helluva ride.GRAND PRIZE WINNER! Book Pipeline.WINNER! IPPY Gold Medal for BEST SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR.WINNER! Independent Author Network SCI-FI BOOK OF THE YEAR.WINNER! London Book Festival BEST SCI-FI.WINNER! Beverly Hills Book Awards BEST SCI-FI.

    When he finds his partner’s arms mangled, he desperately searches for a way to fix him before time runs out. Because the war in the Far East is sapping all the allied nation’s resources, only The Nightingale Circus has the spare parts, the power, and the expertise to fix prosthetics and help the injured, but nothing is free.Unfortunately, Dale doesn't know about The Nightingale Circus’s side job, but a forced encounter with the most dangerous woman in the city, the Golden Lady, sends him their way. On this roller coaster of crazy twists and flips, schemes and deceit, wishes and dreams, no one can foresee how the aerialist will land. Anything is possible in a world of Broken People.

    There are only three rules: Old debts are forgotten. Payback is forbidden. Killing is outlawed. But rules are meant to be broken. When a string of copycat murders disrupt the festivities of the Night of the Clean Hands, it falls to a gang informant to journey deep into the underbelly of a walled, mega slum and unravel the mystery behind the killings connection to a dead diva: the Red Light Princess.

    You’d never hear Cutter say he hates androids. Not out loud anyway. Damn synthetics hear everything. Cutter drags Celia from grisly murder scene to cracked-out cyber-den, hot on the trail of the assassin. As they sink deeper into the case, a far more sinister scheme emerges which threatens the lives of all Angelenos and the only way to stop it lies in the head of a childish android. DAMAGED GOOD is a fast paced science fiction thriller set in the dystopic near future of Los Angeles. It has been likened to Blade Runner, Altered Carbon, and Ghost in the Shell.

    Determined to repay CyberLife Industries for saving her life, Alexandra accepts a mission to infiltrate a competitor’s base deep in the Mojave Desert. After months of training, she’s ready to prove herself. But when the plan falls apart, she must decide between protecting CyberLife … or doing what’s right.ALPHA 8 is seven chapters long, or approximately 35 pages. Please note that it is a short story, not a full-length novel. It takes place one year before the events in Cyber Dawn.

    He has no idea that as a young boy he was part of a group of children exposed to an illicit genetic experiment by the Skywatch Corporation, the aim of which was to create a genetically superior human. A few months before his 17th birthday, Skywatch comes to claim Seven as corporate property and he barely manages to escape -- at the cost of his parents’ lives. Desperate and confused, Seven disappears into the melting pot of migrant workers that travel the United States, harvesting switchgrass – the country’s largest remaining renewable resource -- at mega-plantations, in exchange for food and shelter. His goal is to reach Boston, a city where Skywatch has been banned from operating. He quickly realizes the corporation that claims him as its property wants him back, badly. They have even gone as far as to hire the world's best bounty hunter to bag him. With his freedom and possibly his very life at stake, Seven stays on the move until he befriends Zenny, an aged mercenary and the two settle down at a plantation to wait out the winter. The unlikely pair is forced to take on roles they never wanted. Zenny becomes the personal bodyguard of Lucas (the Plantations manager) and Seven is tasked with keeping a data-chip safe for Lucas – by having it implanted in his arm. After a severe beating from a masked thief leaves Seven on the brink of death, his latent genetic abilities begin to manifest. He finds himself faster, stronger and fearful of what cost these abilities may have on him physically and mentally. There is much more going on at the plantation than Seven and Zenny know, and when they get in over their heads they are forced to make a choice: flee or die. 'Recombination' is the first book in the 'Chronicles of Withmore City' series. Set in the dystopian future of 2085, mega-corporations control almost everything and destitute governments are fighting a losing battle for relevancy. Human cloning and brain mapping has been perfected, making death a mere inconvenience for the lucky minority wealthy enough to afford a clone. A new religion has sprouted up around human cloning, backed by the corporations that hold patents on it. Life teeters towards those with wealth and power, while those without reluctantly work as near-slaves for the corporations, in exchange for the scraps they are expected to survive on.

    Can the enemies of artificial intelligence stop the new AI before it achieves sentience? In Paper Man, Clank sees his own fight for independence reflected in the slow evolution of this new, bizarre, paper intellect imbedded within a game, and finds himself immersed in the intrigue of its own conflict. [Paper Man is a novelette.]